A Renewed Hope
by ftbprotocol
Summary: Sometime between the drunken evening celebrations and the dawn of a new day free from the tyranny of the Emperor, Luke and Leia awaken to a time long past. A time when one was trapped in a monotonous, dull life, and the other marched towards certain death. Is this a dream? Or maybe a vision? Either way they must destroy the Death Star once more. For they are the Galaxy's only hope.
1. Luke & Leia

Continuity Note: Does not comply completely with Rogue One as some of it conflicts with A New Hope (I'm using the scripts on for reference). I also realized, after writing quite a bit, that the events on Tatooine take place over 3 days, but I'd assumed it was 2. So! I'm going to pretend Luke's actions speed events up.

* * *

-**Luke**-

* * *

Luke Skywalker tossed and turned, a strange but familiar smell assaulting his nose and filling his dreams. It was a comforting scent, bringing with it memories of a long-lost home, gone before he was ready. It was also the smell of youthful rebellion, of frustration, and restlessness. Now it held nothing but nostalgia for a much simpler time, with simpler worries.

"Luke! Breakfast is ready!"

The sound of Aunt Beru almost jolted him from his nostalgic musings. He groggily opened his eyes, a life on the run not allowing him to do anything else, and frowned. A strong sense of deja-vu washed over him at the familiar patterns of the compacted sand above his sleeping berth. Luke brushed his hands down the rough fabric of his bedding and quirked an eyebrow at the realism in his dream.

He didn't know how long he lay there, half awake and luxuriating in the comfort of a place almost long forgotten when Uncle Owen's voice forced him upright, his body reacting instinctively to the frustrated tone.

"Luke! Get moving boy!" His Uncle shouted down the hall. "Probably out late with his friends again, those kids are a bad…" He heard the man grumble to himself and fade in the direction of the kitchen.

Sighing to himself, Luke slowly stood and looked around blankly. Whatever this was, it sure was a vivid dream.

He absently got dressed in the loose white tunics common to the moisture farmers on Tatooine. So much less constricting than the clothes he had become used to wearing out in space. Their thin almost flowing nature brought back a host of memories working out under the heat of the twin suns.

Of course, you never worked at the height of their orbit. To do so was to invite a slow hallucination filled death by dehydration, if you didn't pass out from heat stroke first. Those had been more peaceful days, even if they hadn't felt that way at the time. Besides the heat, there was always one of the many inhabitants to look out for, desperate for a meal in the harsh climate. It was a common refrain that even the plants on Tatooine wanted to eat you.

Luke exited his room and made his way over to the kitchen, feet following a well-worn trail, and stopped dead at the entrance. There, sitting at the table as if this was just another morning breakfast together, was his Aunt and Uncle. Both were sitting down, Aunt Beru with a startling sympathetic smile and his Uncle with his habitual small scowl.

Luke stood there in a daze, not believing what he was seeing, hoping the dream would keep going, that he wouldn't wake up, that he could enjoy seeing the two of them one more time. He hadn't thought about them in months, besides in hurt filled moments when he wondered if they'd known, the whole time, and never told him.

Why hadn't they told him?

"Luke?" Aunt Beru asked, forcing his dazed eyes to sharpen on her concerned face, "Are you feeling alright?"

Luke nodded jerkily and moved to join them at the table, sliding into his seat with a hesitant air.

A gusty sigh sounded from his Uncle seated across from him, "Alright, what is it?"

Luke couldn't stop the confused, "Huh?" that came out, feeling like he really was his teenage self, and had just asked his uncle once again for something the man disapproved of and considered frivolous.

Owen pointed a utensil at him and admonished, "Whatever it is, it can wait until your chores are done. Then you can join your friends or whatever you have planned. I want your mind focused, we can't afford any more breakdowns this season, you know that."

Luke jerkily nodded his head when his Uncle looked at him expectantly, the refrain familiar, in the sense that he'd heard a version of it many times as a teenager, especially once he'd been old enough to pilot the land-speeder on his own.

The rest of the meal passed almost in a blur. His Aunt continued to give him concerned looks while his Uncle went through the list of chores that needed to be done and bemoaned the rise in attacks by the Sandpeople. It all seemed familiar, and he had a vague sense that he knew why, but his mind shied away from it, not wanting to ruin the moment and the privilege of seeing his Aunt and Uncle again.

He didn't ask any of the questions he'd once compiled in his mind. Questions he'd wished he'd been able to ask them, once he found out the truth. The bitterness he'd once felt at them keeping the fact that his Father was a hero and a Jedi Knight had long faded. Had they known who his Father had become? Was that why? He almost asked but… he didn't want to disturb the tranquility of the moment.

And besides, in a dream they'd only answer with what he expected them to say anyway.

* * *

-**Leia**-

* * *

Leia Organa was having an amazing dream. In it, her father (her real father) was alive and well. He'd just entrusted her with an important mission the likes of which she'd been begging for, for years. She could almost smell the comforting scents of Alderaan, long lost to her.

She didn't want to wake, but knew she would have to eventually. Usually she did not allow herself to indulge in such a manner, but a heavy weight had recently been lifted from her shoulders, so she allowed herself this moment.

She stretched, and ran her hand along the smooth silk of her bed. Softness she hadn't experienced in so long, not willing to indulge or abuse her position amongst the Rebellion to requisition. Some of the other high ranking Senators had indulged, unwilling to part with the last vestiges of their old life. But Leia had embraced the minimalist utilitarianism of the ground troops, disinclined to give herself any privilege they themselves did not also receive.

She slowly became aware of a soft beeping, the background noise loud enough to be heard over the soft hum of the Falcon's engines. Though the Falcon never ran so smoothly. It took her a moment to place it, but it sounded like the warning of hyperspace reversion.

She ignored it and took a deep breath instead, luxuriating in the flowery scent. It was her favourite. Whatever distraction the dream was trying to impose on her, she was determined to ignore it.

Whatever she'd drunk at the celebration, to give her such a relaxing dream, she's happy that she had. This memory of touch and scent was a balm that soothed her long frayed nerves. Everything was peaceful once more, it reminded her of a simpler time when her biggest concern was convincing her Father she was ready to help him in the Alliance. Of her desperate need to prove herself. When the lives of countless people, and the very fate of the Rebellion, did not feel as if they rested solely on her shoulders.

A fist banged on her door, startling her out of her hazy thoughts.

She blinked her eyes open and frowned. She was fully dressed and lying on a large berth, a size reserved for high ranking officials or those with the money for it. A quick glance showed her to be dressed in her old white senatorial outfit: flowing white dress, silver belt, white combat boots and all. The room looked vaguely familiar, as one she had spent some time in at one point but hadn't in years.

The banging fist switched to the irritating buzz of the intercom, demanding her attention.

Giving in, she swept to her feet and opened the door to her room, a scowl firmly in place.

Whoever was disturbing this dream was going to regret it.

"What is…it…" her demand died in her throat at the sight on the other side of her door.

It was an Officer in the uniform of the Royal Alderaanian Guard, specifically assigned to her during her term as Senator. She even recognized the officer as Lieutenant Ress Batten.

The long dead Lieutenant Batten.

"Your Highness." The Lieutenant saluted, "You're needed on the bridge." A tightness entered her voice, "We are approaching Tatooine and…"

Horror at the direction this frighteningly real dream was taking welled up in Leia. Was it possible this wasn't a dream? It had stared so innocently!

The Lieutenant finished, "A Stardestroyer was just reported dropping out of Hyperspace."

Her horror must have been showing on her face as the officer hurried to add, "We are transmitting diplomatic codes, they won't dare board us. But the Captain requested you on the bridge. Shall I escort you?"

Leia wiped her face of emotion and managed to nod, mind racing. Had her dream truly taken her to this place and time? Why, of all the dreams she could be experiencing did it have to be now. Why did it have to be so vivid?

Was this because of what had happened, before she'd gone to sleep? Because of the revelation Luke had dropped on her, which she hadn't had time, and didn't want to take the time, to process?

_Why?_ She thought, letting none of her distress show, _Why does it have to be now?_

This wasn't a dream, she was certain.

It was a nightmare.

* * *

Authors Note: So I started writing this with no clear end in mind last year. It was supposed to mostly be an exploration of how much the characters changed from the first movie to the last. I just wrote with the flow and didn't sweat the details. But then I really enjoyed writing from different perspectives, and this kinda ballooned.

I'm leaving how this ends mostly up to how the characters act when I write their perspectives, which has caused a few re-writes of earlier chapters to make it all fit. Do not expect events to play out like the movie (except events Luke and Leia have no influence over). I really struggled with what would happen to Leia, I didn't want to just forget about her while all the action happened on Tatooine, and I'm quite pleased with the result! :)


	2. Luke 2 & Leia 2

**Author's Notes:** Thank you for the lovely reviews! Hope you continue to enjoy :)

* * *

**-Luke-**

* * *

Luke had reached a form of zen as he worked on the vaporator. A state he had never managed to reach in his younger years.

Instead he used to spend his whole time daydreaming about the next aerial manoeuvre he was going to try in his skyhopper, or analyzing one he had just barely managed to pull off. When not thinking about flying (or the many modifications he wanted to add to his 'hopper), he'd think about Biggs, mired in jealousy that his older friend been allowed to apply at the Academy.

'It's just not fair.' Was a line he'd thought so often he's surprised it hadn't worn a groove into his brain. Like when you walked a path often enough that the ground became too compact for anything to grow (of course, he hadn't known that was possible until he left Tatooine).

He would spend much of this time daydreaming about how amazing the Academy must be, all the daring feats Biggs was learning, and imagining all the adventures they would have together when Luke was able to join him when the season was over.

And then there had been his increasing obsession with the Rebellion. Always on the lookout for any sign.

He smiled to himself, what did master Yoda say? Back in the beginning?

"_All his life has he looked away… to the future, to the horizon. Never his mind on where he was._ _Hmm? What he was doing. Hmph. Adventure. Heh! Excitement. Heh! A Jedi craves not these things."_

The dreamlike quality of the morning had quickly faded as he'd begun his chores. Now he was less certain it was a dream but more likely a vision. Perhaps his Master had even had a hand in it, to remind him of how much he had changed and what was important.

If so, he'd heard the message loud and clear. How much longer would he be stuck here? Surely he'd learned whatever lesson Master Yoda was trying to pass onto him by now.

He was patient. Look how patient he was being.

Behind him, the glitched six-armed Y-8 droid struggled to help him with the repairs, dragging the broken piece Luke had just replaced back to the speeder.

He was so focused on trying to be calm and patient, mindlessly working, that he almost didn't feel the ripple in the Force. He looked up in confusion, wondering what could be disturbing the placid surface of the dream (or Vision).

A slight flash in the sky caught his eye. He frowned and reflexively grabed his electro-binoculars from his utility belt, something about it felt terribly familiar. He zoomed in as far as it could go and let out a little gasp. What he saw almost, but not quite, popped the hazy, dreamlike calm he'd been in.

A suspicion did begin to form in his mind, however.

Behind him the droid sparked and died with a sad beep, spurring Luke to action.

He stood and walked with a Jedi's calm over to his landspeeder. Without a thought, he abandoned the droid, not at all concerned at the lecture he would later receive from his Uncle (if he was still in the vision).

He headed not for home, but for Toche Station. His usual haunt when trying to avoid his Uncle and commiserate with his old friends.

His body moved on its own, taking the path of least resistance. For higher powered binoculars were stored there, and Luke had often rushed to the station to use them after spotting a ship above Tatooine. Ever hopeful he'd get to witness a space battle.

As he pushed the accelerator to the max, he tried to reach out with the Force for the first time, his earlier hesitation to disturb the dream or vision gone. But… it slipped from his fingers in a way it hadn't since he first began his training.

Frustrated, he glanced up at the sky. Unable to see the two ships anymore, or the flashes of blaster fire. Dread pooled in his gut.

_This has to be more than a dream_, Luke thought to himself. _But if it's a vision… what does it mean?_

* * *

**-Leia-**

* * *

Leia clutched the data disk tight in her hand as the battle raged around her. Blaster fire rained down on the soon to be crippled ship, officers yelled status reports on various systems that were damaged or down.

Captain Antilles was an island of calm amidst all the chaos, commanding his crew through the fight, giving them hope that they could still escape.

Leia knew differently.

This dream, that at first she'd had such hope for, had turned into a waking nightmare the likes of which she hadn't experienced in a long time. She thought she'd moved past this moment, when the future of the Alliance had hung by a thread. A moment that had played out again and again in her nightmares for months afterwards.

At least the true source of this nightmare hadn't yet made an appearance. But she knew, with a familiar dread, that the events would soon shift without her consent.

_Why? Why am I dreaming this?_ She asked herself over and over. It was too real, too vivid, too similar to the actual events that had taken place. Her nightmares used to rush through this part, skipping straight to the interrogation.

That it hadn't yet was a small mercy.

_I want to wake up._ She closed her eyes and focused on that thought. Maybe if she focused hard enough, she could force the issue. It had rarely worked before, and often all she'd been able to do was let the nightmare run its course... but still, she had to try.

_I want to wake up._

A blast shook the ship, causing her to stumble forward. Captain Antilles steadied her, his attention on the officer reporting, "We've lost the main solar fin!"

Captain Antilles' hand on her arm was a shock, the warm weight of it so real she was forced to question the nature of this nightmare. Nothing was making sense, but how could this be anything but a dream? Anything else was impossible.

She stared blankly ahead as the approaching Stardestroyer blocked out the lights of the twin suns. This was it. This was the moment she always dreaded in these nightmares. Soon she'd be in the interrogation block. Soon she would be before…

_I __**need**_ _to wake up._

"—ghness? Princess Leia?" Captain Antilles jolted her out of the panicked spiral her thoughts had taken. Her eyes lost their faraway look and she focused in on the Captain.

"Repeat that, Captain?" She made herself ask.

"I was saying, we'll slow them down as much as we can. Get to the escape pods before they breach the hull." He looked absolutely defeated, but his voice still had the ring of hope to them. As long as the plans weren't in the hands of the Empire, his body language said, there was still a chance.

Leia remembered this part now. It wasn't often included in her nightmares but this one was turning into quite the replay of the whole terrifying event.

She nodded her head to show her understanding, not remembering what she'd said to him before going off to find Artoo. He quickly nodded in return and went to arm himself, parting with the Alliance's familiar refrain.

"May the Force be with you."

Of Course! How could she have forgotten? Could the Force be the cause of this nightmare?

Dread rose at the thought. If that was the case, she had no idea what to expect. She had no idea how to control it. She could barely understand how Luke was able to do what he could, how could she figure out how to escape this?

Perhaps, if she played along with the nightmare a little more, she could get answers.

Decided, she exited the bridge and made her way to the escape pods.

While she dodged crew members setting up choke points and protective cover, she contemplated how the Force could be playing a role in this nightmare. Could it be because of what Luke had told her recently? Had she somehow opened herself up to the mysterious power without even knowing it and this was the result?

Luke had spoken of Visions that the Force could grant its users, but he hadn't mentioned anything like this. He'd talked about seeing both her and Han being tortured on Bespin before they'd even arrived there, but he hadn't mentioned how vivid those visions had been.

_When I wake up_, she vowed, _he has a lot of explaining to do_.


	3. Biggs

Author's Note: I find a fair number of time travel stories don't show the pov of how the other characters would react. I always love readying the fics that do. So I had fun playing with how Biggs would interpret such a change.

* * *

Biggs Darklighter sighted along the pole and gave the holo-ball a slight tap to the side, making it spin and veer off with practised precision, knocking another ball into the pocket.

"Ha!" He exclaimed and grinned at Windy and Deak, "Another point for me. What have you guys been doing all this time? Going soft without me around to show you how it's done?"

"Yeah, yeah." Windy rolled his eyes.

"We're just goin' easy on you," Deak smirked in challenge, "Thought maybe the big city had made **you** soft."

Biggs smirked back, "Right," and handed the pole to Windy, his turn over.

Playing holo-pool here in Tosche Station sure brought back a lot of memories. The familiar shop hadn't changed a bit since he'd left for the Imperial Academy. It felt like he'd taken a step back in time, to a life he had no interest in returning to.

Fixer and Camie were lounging on a couch in the main shop floor, their interest more in each other than anyone else, as usual.

As fun as it was to kick the pants off of Windy and Deak at holo-pool, they weren't the real reason he was waiting around Tosche Station. Although it was good to see old friends, they were all that remained of their group after many had headed off with Biggs to the Imperial Academy. Content with lives as moisture farmers and mechanics, disinterested in the Galaxy at large, Biggs didn't really have much in common with them anymore, beyond a shared history.

The person he was really here to see was conspicuously absent. If he didn't show up soon, Biggs may have to make a house call. But that was a last resort. Luke's uncle was notoriously hostile to anyone who had dreams of leaving Tatooine, especially if they'd joined the Academy. As if by isolating Luke he could prevent them from infecting Luke with a communicable disease.

Biggs smiled to himself at the thought, while watching Windy's shot go wide. He'd put too much force into it, too impatient, as usual. He'd been thinking that a lot since he'd landed dirt side. Where was that blond whirlwind of energy to break the familiarity?

Luke's uncle really had no clue if he thought that isolation was the answer. Why else had Luke spent as much time away from home as he could?

A commotion from the outer room caught his attention, as well as Camie's squawk of surprise.

He had just enough time to brace himself, a grin breaking out on his face. There was only one person it could be.

The door to the back room they were in burst open, Luke Skywalker rushing in with wide eyes and a flushed face.

Luke looked the same as he remembered him. The usual white tunic that all moisture farmers wore due to the extended periods they often spent under one of the suns. His hair was so blond it was almost white, another mark for fair haired humans who worked outside on this planet.

"Hey hotshot!" Biggs laughed at Luke bursting through the door. It was such a Skywalker thing to do. Keep Biggs waiting in suspense, then surprise him with a dramatic entrance.

Luke's eyes zeroed in on him, and the frantic expression he'd been wearing immediately went blank in shock.

"Biggs," He whispered.

Biggs approached arms wide and Luke blinked, an almost confused look crossing his face. Biggs had known Luke would be shocked to see him, he'd wanted to surprise him after all, but this wasn't quite the reaction he'd been expecting.

Luke seemed to get over his surprise and stepped forward haltingly. Biggs's enthusiastic hug was returned, but it was much more tentatively returned than any hug he'd ever received from Luke.

Biggs pulled back and gripped Luke by the shoulders, "Hey, you alright?" he asked, thrown off by Luke's wide-eyed stare. "I wanted to surprise you. I just got back, don't worry, you didn't miss anything." He smiled good naturedly, trying to hide his concern.

Luke didn't answer, his eyes no longer focused on him. Instead, they had gained a faraway look gazing at some point in the distance.

Biggs looked behind him at the others and raised an eyebrow in question. They gave confused shrugs in response.

Luke said something softly, almost too quiet for Biggs to hear, before lunging for the high-powered binoculars lying on a nearby table, turning, and running from the room without a second glance. Biggs was so shocked that he was left there for a moment with his hands in the air.

"Wait! Luke?" Biggs lurched forward and followed the blur of gold and white out to the main room in confusion. This was not at all how he'd pictured seeing Luke again would go.

Who or what in the Galaxy was a Leia?

Thankfully, it didn't take long to find him, Fixer and Camie pointing to the hatch that led to the roof. Taking the steep steps two at a time, he opened the hatch and was hit with a blast of heat. The suns were starting to get high in the sky, and soon everyone would be heading in for shelter. Luke however, didn't seem bothered by the heat and was just standing there, staring up with his binoculars, frantically searching the sky.

"Hey Luke, what's got you all riled up?" Biggs asked, followed by Deak and Windy, and came to a stop beside Luke.

Camie and Fixer popped out of the hatch next, having reluctantly followed. As soon as Camie was on her feet, she asked, exasperated, "Yeah Wormie, what's got you on a rampage this time?"

Luke lowered the binoculars and said, more to himself than to them, "There's a Stardestroyer in orbit."

"Really?" Biggs took the binoculars from Luke's limp fingers, while Luke kept looking up, face blank. Again, he was not nearly as excited as Biggs would have expected. What was going on with him?

Being the only one of them all who had been to the Imperial Academy, and therefore more knowledgeable, he couldn't help the small part of himself that wanted to show off, just a little.

"Looks just like a freighter-tanker to me, must be refuelling." The big ship hung casually in orbit, too distant to discern the precise shape.

He was almost sorry to burst Luke's bubble, but the thought of the Empire sending anything as large as a Stardestroyer near Tatooine was too fanciful to be true. Why did Luke even assume it was a Stardestroyer? There was nothing to indicate that it was anything out of the ordinary.

"Urg," Fixer groaned, glaring at Luke, "I knew it, the Empire doesn't care about this system, I keep telling you. At least this time it wasn't a stupid story about a fight between them and the Rebellion. Come on, Camie." He finished and the group all followed him one by one, back down inside.

Windy met Biggs' eye and gave a little shrug, unconcerned.

Luke didn't react to them at all, just stared blankly up and into the distance. Biggs frowned at the shaggy blond mop, not sure what had gotten into Luke. From the other's reactions, they didn't seem to know what to make of it either. Although, as Windy's shrug had shown, they didn't seem bothered by it like he was.

"Biggs," Luke startled and turned when Biggs put a hand on his shoulder, as if he had completely forgotten that Biggs was there. "I… need a moment alone."

Biggs hesitated at this change in Luke. Gone was the excitable friend bursting with energy and endless questions. He'd thought for sure the first time they saw each other he'd be regaled with Luke's exploits and how he'd outdone Biggs's record in his T-16.

Now there was just this… barren lack of emotion.

"Are you sure?" Biggs asked, concern heavy in his tone.

Luke gave him a little smile and nodded, so unlike all the happy, free grins he'd once thought were a permanent fixture on his friend's face. The look he was giving Biggs was more in line with the jaded people in the city than on the cocksure farm boy.

Something must have happened while he was away in the Academy, something bad.

"Ok…" Biggs reluctantly agreed, "I'll be inside." He turned and walked to the ladder leading down into the building. When he got there, he paused and turned to see Luke settling himself into a cross-legged position.

None of their other friends had seemed as disturbed as Biggs by Luke's behaviour. Was he just over reacting? Was this just Luke growing up without him? Or maybe... without Biggs around to listen to his crazy ideas, without a rival who took him seriously, had Luke done something drastic?

"And Luke," he called, hoping to reassure Luke that nothing had changed between them. When Luke turned his head and met his eyes he continued, "If you want to talk about it, you know I'm always willing to listen."

The blank expression Luke had been wearing for the last few minutes softened and he regarded Biggs with such sadness and fondness Biggs almost wanted to storm over and demand Luke talk **now**.

"Thanks Biggs," He seemed to swallow and then turned his head forward so Biggs couldn't see his face as he said, "You're a good friend," voice tight with emotion.

Biggs hesitated a moment more but decided it was best to give Luke some space, for now. He crouched and headed down the ladder, concern for Luke radiating out in waves. One question rolling over and over in his mind.

_What happened while I was gone?_


	4. Artoo & Luke 3

Author's Note: This story lives! Sorry for the long wait. I was kinda hoping the last movie would give me the kick to finish this but instead it did the reverse. So I'm just gonna stay here in the Original Trilogy and ignore everything else. Thank you for all the lovely reviews, without them I might not have regained my motivation :) Anyway, hope you enjoy!

Edit: Thank you to SnowflakesandMozart for pointing out that my attempt to make Artoo genderless led to some difficult to follow sentences. I hopefully found and fixed all the times where my use of they/their was unclear.

* * *

**-Artoo-**

* * *

Astromech droid R2-D2, or as they were sometimes called by organics, 'Artoo' approached a distraught looking Princess Leia, and registered concern. Artoo didn't know organics and their strange moods very well, but Artoo liked to think they understood them better than their current counterpart, the protocol droid C-3P0, or as the organics often said, 'Threepio.'

Her hands were displaying a fine tremor usually indicative of intense stress. She was also lacking the usual confidence Artoo always saw around her, a confidence that sometimes reminded Artoo so much of-

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-a confidence that very few organics displayed in the stressful situations they'd been in together.

She was also giving Artoo a very strange look.

Princess Leia, whose protection was of the highest priority, was looking at Artoo like organics did to dear friends and family. It was a look she had never before directed at either Artoo or Threepio. And yet here she was, with such an uncharacteristic look. Had something caused damage to her internal processor? Was she defective?

Artoo warbled a concerned question at her, knowing she wouldn't understand but maybe the intent would get across, [Are you alright, Princess?]

To the little blue mech's surprise, she answered as if she understood, "I will be ok Artoo, once I'm free of this strange nightmare."

Nightmare: a terrifying dream in which the dreamer experiences feelings of helplessness, extreme anxiety, sorrow, etc.

Artoo warbled in confusion and asked the only thing that made sense, [You are experiencing extreme anxiety?]

She let out an aborted little laugh and shook her head, "Thank you for your concern," confusing Artoo further with her seeming understanding of Binary. Usually everyone needed Threepio to translate the binary; to Artoo's everlasting frustration and aggravation.

"Now Artoo," The lens of the photoreceptor focused on her face as she gained control over her outward expression of emotion. But Artoo still worried about the inner core processor that organics called a brain. "I need you to record a message for me. And then take this," she held up a little data disk, "and deliver it to General Obi-wan Kenobi."

Artoo let out a surprised warble at the familiar name. Surely the man had ceased to function years ago.

"I'll give you his coordinates once I finish. And…" She trailed off and stared at nothing.

Artoo let out a hesitant bleep, unsure if she had frozen or was caught in a loop, as organics sometimes tended to. At least organics could usually break themselves out of self-perpetuating loops, one of the few features of organics that Artoo sometimes wished all droids could have as well.

She shook herself and fixed Artoo with an intent look, "And if you find Luke, tell him…" A look of pain flashed across her face, "oh I'll tell him myself."

Screams began to sound in the distance, getting closer and closer to their location. Princess Leia stood back and said, "Ok, start recording."

With a slight whir Artoo scanned her body and began the recording, saving it into the droid's encrypted memory banks.

"General Kenobi, you served my…" Princess Leia paused and then continued with a strange emphasis, "my real father, Bail Organa, in the Clone Wars. Now we need your help against the Empire. I've been captured." She paused for a moment and took a deep breath, an expression that Artoo didn't like crossing her face, "Bring Artoo and Threepio to my father, and Artoo will deliver the information I'm entrusting to him. Please," her voice cracked, and Artoo wished there was something the astromech could do to help her, "this may not be real, but please, if you can, save Alderaan."

The Princess paused and dropped her eyes to the ground. She pressed her lips tightly together as if she was trying to hold something in.

"Luke…" She took a shaking breath before continuing, "Luke if this is some kind of- of Force Nightmare, I need to wake up… please, Luke." She flinched and cut herself off at a noise not far from them.

Artoo let out a mournful warble as the Princess knelt and entered the coordinates she had mentioned. "Take an escape pod with Threepio, and find them Artoo."

[You're not coming with us?] Artoo asked.

She shook her head and pointed to where Threepio was waiting. When Artoo started to rock back and forth in distress, her face changed and she softly said, "That's an order."

When Artoo still stubbornly didn't move she added, "I'll be ok, don't worry."

The little astromech doubted it, the message she'd recorded had been a bit too nonsensical for her, someone who usually was quite logical. What did she mean by 'save Alderaan'? And who was this 'Luke'? Why wasn't she escaping with them? Was her processor stuck accessing old files, for her to doubt that what she was doing was real?

But Artoo was used to plans that seemed nonsensical on the surface, only to have them end surprisingly well. The Jedi would often-

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…only to end surprisingly well. The Rebellion had a proven record of beating Threepio's odds.

Atroo turned away from her and rolled down the corridor, over to where Threepio was waiting, fretting as usual.

"At last! Where have you been?" Threepio berated when Artoo got close to the gold droid.

"They're headed this way, what are we going to do? We'll be sent to a spice mine or smashed into who knows what!" Artoo ignored the protocol droid and raced past Threepio and down the hallway.

Threepio gave chase, as Artoo knew the fussy droid would, calling, "Wait a minute, where are you going?"

Artoo didn't know what had changed the Princess so fundamentally, but the droid wouldn't let her down. Even if she wasn't going to be 'ok' as she claimed, at least General Kenobi would be joining them soon. Surely he'd rescue the Princess.

* * *

** -Luke-**

* * *

Luke waited until Biggs was down the ladder and back into the main room of Tosche Station, before closing his eyes.

He pushed aside the distraction of Bigg's concern (not letting himself think about how amazing it was to see him alive) and focused himself inwards. His previous attempts since waking on Tatooine to reach out with the Force had been clumsy and awkward. The Force just kept slipping through his fingers.

All he'd been able to get was a sense of fear and dread. And an urgency that sent him racing to Toche Station to use the high powered binoculars he knew were kept there.

'Your eyes can deceive you. Don't trust them.' Ben Kenobi's words floated through his head, almost admonishing him.

But sometimes, you needed to see things for yourself, especially when the Force was being uncooperative. And what his eyes had seen had cemented the importance of connecting with the Force properly.

Now that he was taking the time to centre himself and calm down, it began to flow more freely.

Although the feelings and knowledge it showed him almost broke his concentration. How could everything around him be real? How was that possible?

Biggs was alive and vibrant in the Force, pacing down below in concern. Biggs, who'd died three years ago. But also, in just a few short days, would die in the fight above the death star.

That also meant his Aunt and Uncle… He pushed those thoughts away. First he needed to figure out what was going on, then he could get distracted by the dead still being alive.

Luke expanded his senses outward, becoming one with the few living beings on the desert wasteland that was his home planet. Because of the absence of life, a bright little fire on the edges of the Jundland Wastes immediately caught his attention. It was also very familiar. He focused on it and received a brief flare of surprise before it disappeared, fading into the background of the Force.

Ben?… he's… Ben's alive. This… this is real.

With that halting thought he turned his focus upwards to the stars. Towards the pull he had felt ever since something had prodded him to look up from his work with the vaporator, to the battle above him. The pull had only become stronger, as he'd begun to regain his connection to the Force.

Leia…?

He projected along the pull, not sure if he was hoping for a response, or blank silence. Because if Leia was up there that meant…

Luke!

He flinched, her anger and terror assaulting him like an electric shock. He almost mentally backed away from her, but she latched on with surprising strength for someone who, not that long ago had stated he, 'had a power she could never understand.'

He was glad she did, for following the initial burst, other feelings followed: her relief at not being alone, followed by a vague sense of 'what took you so long?', her frustration at the situation, and a confused lack of understanding of what was happening.

I don't know what happened, or how we are here. Leia, are you all-?

His message was cut short when he felt a sympathetic sharp stab of pain in his upper back followed by a spark of pure panic before he lost their connection. Her last thought sent his heart racing, completely breaking him out of his semi-meditation.

Vader!

How had he not noticed it before? The black aura suffused the Force around Leia. In fact it was even starting to curl menacing around her.

Perhaps… a part of him had not wanted to acknowledge the dark presence and all that it represented.

Tentatively, he reached for Leia once again, hoping to remain unnoticed, needing to know she was alright, to lend her his support. She gratefully took it, her panic calming slightly. What he did not expect, however, was for a dark tendril to lash out and attempt to latch onto him.

Luke gasped and blinked, his eyes darting around the roof to confirm to himself that yes, he was still on Tatooine, and no, he was not entangled in constricting cords of anger and hate. That the dark reaching presence was still in orbit above the planet.

He shot to his feet, face white as what he'd just learned sunk in. Leia was up there, not a ghost from his past, but the same person who had stood on Endor with him and offered a sympathetic shoulder when he returned from the Death Star. And up there with her… was the worst person imaginable for her, short of the Emperor himself.

His knee-jerk reaction was to fly up there immediately and rescue her. He couldn't leave her to face Darth Vader, their Father, alone!

But… he grimaced and shrank back into himself in the Force, hiding his presence to the best of his ability. Though he wasn't sure how effective it would be.

Do or do not, there is no try, he reminded tendril of darkness that had tried to latch onto him didn't feel able to find him at least.

One thing he knew, even without that strong mutual connection he'd had with his Father… that Vader would be landing on the planet.

He didn't know when but... soon.

If he could hide himself as well as Ben just had, when he'd brushed against him, maybe Vader would have dismissed what he'd felt. But as it was… Endor had taught him quite painfully that at his current skill level, he could not hide from his Father when he was near. Luke's only hope lay in the fact that their connection was not as strong as it had been after Bespin and the long months that had followed.

Hopefully…

Hopefully he could hide just long enough to find Ben and the droids, before Vader descended on the planet. But to do that he'd need a ship that could get past an Imperial blockade. And thankfully there was currently a pilot on Tatooine who was perfect for the job.

And Leia… wait. Why was the dark aura of their father tightening around her so much? What was he doing to her? Leia was afraid, she was so very very afraid. It made Luke worry even more.

Was Vader hurting her? With his connection to her broken, Luke couldn't be sure. Not without putting the two of them in more danger. He wanted to believe their father wouldn't badly harm her but… experience had taught him otherwise.

Scratch that first plan, he needed to put himself in a position to rescue her.

Just in case.


	5. Leia 3

Author's note: Thank you to SnowflakesandMozart for pointing out that my attempt to make Artoo genderless led to some difficult to follow sentences last chapter. I hopefully found and fixed all the times where my use of they/their was unclear.

Thank you so much for the reviews! Luke's actions last chapter are already causing problems for Leia...

Hope you enjoy it :)

* * *

She was escorted down the hallway surrounded by a squad of stormtroopers. Along the walls, black splotches from blaster burns marred the once pristine white ship. The bodies of dead Alderaanian soldiers and stormtroopers littered the ground.

They hadn't even bothered to clear the bodies to the side of the corridor yet, forcing her to watch where she stepped. She did her best to keep her head up when she could, for even with the helmets on she might recognize a few of them. Like the now definitely dead Lieutenant Ress Batten.

She couldn't afford the distraction.

The smell was what began to convince her that this was more than just a nightmare, more than just a vision. Everything had become too much, the sounds of blasters firing, the screams of people dying, the smell of the dead, the groggy feeling from waking from a stun bolt…

She'd thought for sure, when the ship's grey-white walls faded to black with the stun bolt that it was the end of the nightmare. That she would wake back on Endor with Han and Luke. The Emperor and Vader dead. Everyone celebrating the greatest victory in the history of the Alliance.

Instead… she was still here, still in her waking nightmare.

She clenched her bound hands together as she walked. The only outward indication of her mounting terror the harsh little exhales out her nose.

She knew where they were taking her, who they were taking her to.

It had been almost easier on Bespin, when the large door had opened to the dining area to reveal the black embodiment of her fears. She'd nearly frozen, back then. Only Han's instinct to attack first had broken her out of her shock before it became paralyzing. Having someone else to focus on and worry about had been a guilty relief. Not to mention back then she hadn't known...

But now she was alone.

_Please, please Luke, let me wake up._

This dream… that became a nightmare… that was now feeling more and more like reality… she wanted it to end. Needed it to end.

A strange feeling rose up in her then. So strong it almost made her stumble. It was followed by a hesitant question full of uncertain hope.

_'Leia…?'_

She made a grasping motion with her hands, a part of her instinctively trying to take hold of the connection physically.

_'Luke!'_ She thought, relief flooding her. She wasn't alone. Whatever this was, Luke was here, he could get her out of this. Why hadn't he pulled her out of this nightmare earlier!? Did he have to make her go through the motions of sending Artoo and Threepio to Tatooine?

When, after a moment, she still found herself walking and surrounded by stormtroopers, her hope sank. Could Luke not pull her out? Her feet began to drag, the suspicion she kept pushing to the back of her mind, the suspicion that this was all real, started to more firmly take hold.

If this wasn't all in her head... but how was that even possible! The only possible explanation was the Force. Was this common? Could Vader and the Emperor do the same?

_I don't know what happened, or how we are here. Leia, are you all-?_

"Keep moving." A stormtrooper ordered, followed by a sharp shove with a blaster to her back.

Leia had enough time to wonder, as she stumbled forward, _What does he mean 'how we are here'?_ before she glanced up, re-focusing on the world around her, and froze.

Vader.

He stood, larger than life, before her. A black void among the white stormtoopers and light grey walls of the ship.

Her mind was blank. She didn't know what to do. If this was real, what **could** she do? This whole time, since she'd woken in her berth, she'd assumed that at any moment she would wake up.

The stormtroopers roughly grabbed her arms and marched her forward until she was craning her neck back to meet Vader's black gaze, her eyes wide.

She couldn't remember what she'd said to him, back then. Some indignant claim about the Senate no doubt. As if he had ever respected the institution in the first place. Now her tongue was stuck to the roof of her mouth, refusing to move.

How could this... this **thing** be her-

No!

Don't even think it!

Vader was talking, but she was having trouble hearing him over her rising panic.

Something about intercepted transmissions and Rebel spies.

His deep resonating voice, the sound of his respirator... it was all too much. He was dead. She'd thought he was dead! She'd been so relieved, especially after Luke came back to the moon alive. Relieved she would never have to face him again with the knowledge…

A soft encouragement welled up inside her, reminding her she wasn't alone, that Luke was still with her. It calmed her panicked, spiraling thoughts and rapid heartbeat.

She managed to gather herself together enough to make a passable attempt at defending herself. Taking Luke's silent support to mean that she needed to let this play out.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm on a-"

"What is that?" He interrupted her, his voice harsh like the crack of a whip.

He raised a black hand towards her, a dark pressure building at the edge of her vision as he did so. Luke's support flinched away, as if it had somehow been struck, leaving her bereft, unbalanced, and alone.

Vader lowered his hand and looked down, like he could see through the deck and to the planet below, while Leia was left reeling.

Had he... somehow noticed Luke?

They both stood there for a moment, silent except for the regular inhale and exhale of Vader's respirator. She could only stare at him, confused and horrified. This hadn't happened before. What had he done?

In a slow, ponderous, and all the more dangerous for it, voice Vader asked, "Who was that?"

She clenched her jaw, and now wished Luke hadn't provided her with his support. Not if it meant Vader was aware of him. She could take care of herself. She'd survived Vader before, she could do it again!

...Or so she told herself. She refused to acknowledge it might be different now, knowing her connection to both him and Luke.

With someone other than herself to focus on, her earlier panic was pushed back to a low simmer. She had to protect Luke. She could endure anything, even reliving this moment, if it meant Luke was safe.

"I don't know what you're talking about." It came out stronger this time, more sure and defiant. "As a member of the Imperial Senate, you have no authority to-"

"You are a traitor and a part of the Rebel Alliance." He interrupted, pointing an accusing finger at her, as if it was a fact and she was only deluding herself if she thought to convince him otherwise.

It had always frustrated her back then, how had he **known**? Only through watching Luke attain the same supernatural abilities had she gained a true appreciation for it. Having that power on the side of the Alliance, and not just fighting a losing battle against it, had made all the difference.

"You attacked us with no provocation!" She did her best to remember the indignation she'd felt back then, the anger that had filled her and driven her for so many years. "Of course we defended-"

"Do not play games with me. You are in contact with a Jedi. Did your master think he could use the plans you stole against the Empire?" Vader growled.

Leia blinked, confused, and burst out, "my what?"

His hand lashed out and grabbed her by the throat.

Leia immediately brought her cuffed hands up to try and pry it off, even knowing it was futile. The black glove was so large, it felt like it completely enveloped her neck. She began to choke as he slowly increased the pressure.

"I said, no more games Princess." He gave her a little shake that had her grimacing. "Who is your master?"

Of all the things for him to assume, did it have to be this!?

"I don't-" she started to deny but a great dark pressure was weighing down on her, stealing her voice. She instinctively huddled into a mental ball, much as she had on previous encounters with him. The walls around them seemed to darken and close in, the floor gaining the faint red glow of her old cell on the death star.

"Do not think you can lie to me." Vader growled, increasing the pressure.

She didn't know what to do, beyond knowing that she had to protect Luke. Unlike all those years ago on the Death Star, when she'd been prepared to die, resigned to it, and had nothing left to lose… now she had Luke. She couldn't leave him alone in this… whatever this was.

Vader was still pressing down on her, both physically and mentally. She refused to give him what he wanted.

"I don't have a master." She managed to gasp out. "You're delusion-" He tightened his hand again, forcing her to choke on her words, and pulled her closer.

Amongst the shaking fear that was eating away at her, anger at this whole situation flashed up, burning away the fear so fast it would've made her head spin, if darkness wasn't growing on the edge of her vision due to lack of oxygen. She hated this, hated the situation she'd been placed in, hated that she had to face him knowing the truth, after everything he'd done to her.

Desperate in her anger and hatred of him, she tried to lash out with her boot and pull away from him, anything to catch a breath.

She was on the tips of her toes, unable to get much leverage. She hit him somewhere on his armour, sending shooting pain up her calf. She got a grunt out of him for her effort, but was too desperate to give it any thought. Between one kick and the next, he abruptly let go.

She fell backwards into harsh white hands that caught her, coughing and gasping at the sudden influx of air. He said nothing as she struggled to regain control of herself, hands protectively over her throat.

He'd let go. Why did he let go? She'd been sure he was about to kill her. Had he somehow learned something from her? Had her mind betrayed her? For the first time since Luke had told her the truth she wished she understood more about the Force.

On the periphery of their little confrontation, an imperial officer approached and saluted, waiting to be acknowledged.

"No... perhaps you do not." A contemplative note entered his tone.

Why did he say that? What had she done? What did he know!?

She managed to glare up at him, uncertain if she was able to keep the snarl from her face. He tilted his head at her and crossed his arms. Out of nowhere, she shuddered as a chill seemed to rush across her.

"What is it Commander?" He asked, never taking his eyes off her.

"Lord Vader, the battle station plans are not aboard this ship! And no transmissions were made. An escape pod was jettisoned during the fighting, but no life forms were aboard."

Leia pressed her lips together, hoping not to give anything away, but knew that Vader would soon send stormtroopers down to investigate. Sending the plans to General Kenobi had been a long shot, but one she'd had to take. Leia used to take such pride in her intuition. But now... it made her nauseous. She wanted no part in it.

Vader turned slightly towards the officer, but somehow she just knew most of his attention was still on her as he ordered, "commander, send a detachment to retrieve the pod, she hid the plans onboard."

She did her best to show no reaction but wasn't sure how well she succeeded. Not that it mattered. He'd made the same assumption before. But it was as frightening as ever to see his deadly leaps of logic in person. There had been so many times on the run that they'd thought they were safe, only for Vader to inexplicably find them.

His next words sent her heart racing and she involuntarily widened her eyes in shock.

"And prepare my shuttle. I will see to it personally."

"Yes sir!" The commander saluted.

"No!" She burst out in shock, unable to hold it in. That hadn't happened before!

"Escort the Princess to cell block zero. Not only will we finally put an end to the rebellion, she has also led us to a new Jedi threat."

"I didn't- What are you-." She indignantly tried to contradict him, but her sore throat made it hard to speak. How had her brief contact with Luke led to all of this?

"I will deal with you once I return." He ominously stated. "Take her away." Vader waved dismissively. The stormtroopers saluted and grabbed her when she didn't immediately fall into step with them.

Even with her back to him, it still felt like she was staring into the reflective surface of his eyes. She shivered again, unable to shake the chill that had taken hold of her. She was used to space being cold, was dressed for it even. This cold... it felt unnatural. What did it mean?

What did he know?


	6. Biggs & Ben

**Biggs**

* * *

Biggs Darklighter paced the workshop, thoughts still on his friend on the roof.

"You mean he was normal yesterday?" He was interrogating his old friends, not liking the abrupt change in Luke's demeanor between when he'd left for the Academy and now.

Deak sighed in frustration and repeated, "Yes. He was here most of the day working on that busted skyhopper of his."

"Let it go, will ya?" Camie asked, annoyed, "Wormie gets into weird moods sometimes, it's no big deal."

Biggs wanted to throttle her. No big deal? Were they completely blind!? Something serious was clearly bothering Luke.

This wasn't the joyous reunion he'd hoped it to be. He'd expected Luke to be happy, bursting with excitement, and peppering him with questions about the Academy. And at the same time, regaling him with all the new crazy stunts he'd pulled without Biggs there to look out for him.

Desperate to impress him, as usual.

"I asked you not to call him that." He managed to civilly state.

"It's fine," Fixer disagreed, "he doesn't mind. And besides, it fits him."

Windy laughed. "Yeah, he always comes bursting in here like one of the great worms, rampaging and disturbing everything in his path."

Biggs pressed his lips tight together beneath his mustache. They really didn't get it. No wonder Luke had been having mood swings around them, if what they said was true. He couldn't confide in any of them. He was probably bottling it all up, like he always did.

For the first time in a while, he regretted leaving for the Academy without Luke.

The main question he needed answered though was who or what had been the cause of the change? Was it one of these 'friends'? Was it someone new in Tosche Station? Or was it… his uncle?

Biggs shook his head, trying to banish the direction his thoughts were taking. He was imagining the worst. Maybe it wasn't as bad as he assumed, and Luke was just going stir crazy, like they'd insinuated. But still… the thought wouldn't leave him… Luke's uncle was often putting him down, trying to discourage his talents. As Luke had gotten older, and started pushing back more, could something have shifted in their relationship?

Biggs was broken free of his dark thoughts by Luke practically leaping down the ladder and landing with a graceful thud. Where had he learned to move like **that**!

"What have I done?" He barely heard Luke mutter to himself.

He gaped as Luke rushed by them all to the door, giving none of them a second glance. Not even Biggs.

"Luke! Wait!" Biggs called and raced after the blond, his half-cloak flapping behind him.

He caught up to Luke just as he reached the landspeeder and grabbed Luke by the arm to forcibly halt him. Luke turned so sharply Biggs immediately let go and backed off, hands raised, alarmed at the violent reaction to such a small thing.

For Luke had dropped into a defensive stance, arm raised from where he had been about to break the hold Biggs had on him.

Biggs was starting to get really scared for him. What had happened? There's no way he was imagining the change in Luke. Why was he suddenly so twitchy?

"Luke, seriously, what's wrong? I came all this way to see you." Biggs slowly lowered his hands, trying to seem non threatening and let out an internal sigh of relief when Luke blinked and relaxed.

"Sorry, Biggs. I'm fine, but I have to go." Luke softly said, more subdued than Biggs was used to. It was the same almost expressionless calm Luke had worn a moment ago on the roof. It was just as unnerving as before, and completely at odds with his mad dash to the speeder.

"Luke, that line may work on those sand-for-brains in there but I'm your friend. You're my best friend. Whatever it is, you can talk to me. You can trust me."

Luke blinked in surprise and once again that strange, sad little smile crossed his face.

Not knowing what to do with that look, Biggs plowed on, "look, I'm only here until tomorrow morning, I came to tell you-"

"I'm sure you'll find the Alliance, don't worry." Luke cut him off.

"What!" Biggs panicked, looking around furtively, "Keep it down-" and sagged in relief when he saw that no one had followed them out of the workshop.

He then turned back to see Luke already half in his speeder. "Wait, Luke," he whispered, "how did you know about that?"

"It's what we always talked about, right?" Luke said as he strapped himself in. He busied himself with the controls, seeming to avoid eye contact.

"…Yeah." Biggs agreed uncertainly. They had talked about getting trained by the Imperial Academy, only to defect to the Rebellion once their training was complete. But how had Luke known that Biggs and some of his classmates were planning doing that in the next couple days?

"Well," Luke seemed to shake free of whatever had him looking down and met Biggs' eyes. They held a sad kind of fondness that took his breath away, "We'll see each other again, don't worry."

With a few quickly flicked switches, he started up the engines, forcing Biggs to take a few steps back. "And may the Force be with you."

And with that, Luke sped off, leaving Biggs standing alone in his dust.

It was a familiar feeling. Luke was always charging off and doing crazy stunts. It was all he'd been able to do to keep up with him sometimes when they were younger. Even with Biggs's advantage in being older.

But this time… this time there had been a weird finality to what he'd said, even if he claimed they'd see each other again. And what he'd said at the end… that was the phrase the Rebellion used.

Maybe he had it all wrong. Maybe it was something else that had changed him. But if so… What kind of trouble had Luke gotten into?

As Biggs watched Luke head, not in the direction of home, but along the path to the Jundland Wastes, he vowed to get to the bottom of it before he left for his commission with the Empire.

He owed it to Luke.

* * *

**Ben**

* * *

Ben Kenobi, or as he was known to the inhabitants of this desert world, 'That Crazy Hermit Old Ben Kenobi', sat in his hut on the edge of the Jundland Wastes and contemplated a worrying disturbance in the Force he had felt earlier that day.

It had begun in the morning, a shift in the air and the Force itself. Long meditation and queries into the Force had yielded no answers, only a vague feeling that something had changed. Or was about to change.

Perhaps young Luke had been getting up to one of his usual stunts? Though the change felt far more momentous than that. In any case, it would be prudent to keep a close eye on the young one for the next few days.

A trip to the farm this evening should give him an idea of what to expect. It was the usual time the young man finished his chores, and often was when he got up to the most mischief. He'd keep to the edge of their farm of course, no reason to let Owen Lars know he was there. Getting chased off the property the last time he tried to visit had been one time too many for him. And it had been incredibly undignified.

There being no urgency to the Force, once the disturbance had passed, Ben Kenobi set about completing his morning routine. Today that consisted of collecting the meagre amount of moisture that his personal vaporator collected overnight. It was barely enough to keep him going in this barren location he'd chosen to live. Soon he would have to head into town to refresh his supplies.

It was around the time he'd just finished his midday meal when something disturbed the tranquility of his home. He was settling down to spend the rest of the hottest part of the day meditating, when he felt it in the Force. A bright presence briefly flared, sought him out, and then faded back into a dull glow.

He'd been so shocked, he'd immediately pulled back what little of his presence had bled into the Force around him and stretched, what he thought of as a curtain, around himself.

It had been years. Many, many years, since he'd felt a Force presence so close to his own.

And on Tatooine… it was very disturbing.

Concern rose up in him, leading him to sit in his usual meditative pose and scan both the planet and the stars around him, while remaining hidden in the Force.

What he sensed shook him to his very core.

_Vader!_ He almost leapt to his feet without even realizing it.

How had he not noticed earlier?

What remained of his old apprentice was in orbit, a black cloud of hatred more cold and refined than any he'd felt in the long years of the Clone Wars. It was… surprisingly painful to feel. The man he'd known was long dead. He'd thought himself at peace with that. But it was completely different when confronted with what the man had become. Hovering above Tatooine.

Ben was so isolated here on Tatooine, so removed from the greater movements of the Empire, it was a shock to have it right on his doorstep. Figuratively of course.

But that was not the main source of his concern. The bright little glow off in the distance, close to Anchorhead but moving quickly away, was what grabbed him. It had dimmed from what it previously had been, apparently trying to blend in with the inhabitants. Trying, but not completely succeeding. It wouldn't be enough, not if Vader was searching the planet for them.

Ben immersed himself in the Force, waiting for a sign, a warning, anything.

But he received no answer. With Vader so close, he dared not go deeper. All he could do was monitor the little glow moving with purpose. An urgency that gained speed as it first headed towards Ben, but then veered off in the general direction of Mos Eisley.

Ben let out a slight sigh of relief. If the Force user wasn't heading to either Ben's location or the Lars Homestead, then he still had time. The being clearly already knew about Ben, but perhaps not his precise location. And while Ben had dealt with the odd Force user in the past by subtly influencing them to leave the planet, lest they bring the attention of the Empire or the Hutts, he could feel that it would be useless this time.

This being may have innocent intentions, he could feel that much, but that did not mean that the consequences of their actions would be so benign.

Conscious that he may have to flee with Luke, depending on what the being was after, he got up and carefully unearthed his most important possessions from a sealed chest in the corner of the room. He took Luke's father's lightsaber, a training remote, and a notebook filled with some of the many observations he'd made about the Force during his isolation.

All of his important possessions fit easily into a dark brown satchel.

It was almost a shock to take one last look at his home, his refuge for the last eighteen years and realize there was nothing more he wanted or needed to take with him. His minimalist upbringing within the temple had fit in perfectly with the minimalist lives of most of the local farmers. Although for many of them the minimalism was not by choice.

The Force whispered that change was coming. Ben could no longer trust events to play out as his visions had foretold. He'd chosen a path with the highest likelihood of success, once he resigned himself to adhering to Owen's refusal to allow him to train Luke, and now that path was in jeopardy.

He couldn't allow some padawan to find his charge. Not with Darth Vader in orbit.

* * *

Author's note: A bit of a short chapter but I hope you enjoyed!


	7. Vader & Luke 4

Note: Thank you so much to badgerandk for beta reading this!

* * *

**Vader**

* * *

From the control room, Darth Vader watched as the princess was escorted to the maximum security cell block. There had been a token protest from the commander in charge of searching the Rebel Vessel; he'd been very concerned with the potential for retaliation from the Senate for imprisoning one of their own.

If there was one reason, and one alone, for why he was willing to agree with his master on the usefulness of the Death Star, it was the impending dissolution of the Senate.

The princess was marching to the dark cell with more dignity than he would have expected from a Senator. No blustering, no indignant cries, instead she had her head held high. If it wasn't for the few brief moments she reached up to rub her throat, it would almost look like the stormtroopers were an honour guard, not her jailers.

He remembered this princess from the Senate. Among the hundreds of corrupt beings that worked in the amorphous body, he remembered her.

Her so-called 'mercy missions' had interfered with his efforts to hunt down rebels on many of the planets with unrest. Never enough to thwart his mission completely, but often key members of a terrorist cell would be nowhere to be found once she left. With every incident lacking enough evidence to tie the events to her directly his frustration had grown.

Since the Senate had still been required to keep the systems in line, he'd been unable to act. Until now. His master's plans for the Death Star were so close to being complete. The Senate no longer mattered. Finally.

His only remaining concern was the growing overconfidence amongst the Admiralty.

The princess stumbled for a moment, when the darkness of her cell was presented to her, a brief flash of terror exploding into the Force. He drank it in, eyes watching her half lidded, his scarred lips twitching in amusement.

He'd come very close to killing her there in the corridor when that foreign Force presence had attempted to reach her, almost ruining his best lead to finding the Rebel leadership.

The hatred she'd practically thrown at him had been quite the surprise.

A thread of anticipation began to work its way through him at the thought. In their past interactions, there had been no hint she harboured such intense feelings, or had the ability to project them into the Force. She had always affected an aura of cool disdain to those around her; her presence in the Force as muted as all the other Force blind beings.

Not long ago, there had been a disturbance in the Force, centred around this cursed planet. And she was somehow involved, he could feel it. This drastic change in her could possibly even be connected to it.

The guards quickly became impatient when she didn't immediately enter the cell, pushing her in so roughly she collapsed to her knees. Red-hot anger sliced through her terror, but it only lasted until she was sealed into her cell, and left in complete darkness. The two stormtroopers took up position on either side of the cell, while at the control room to the detention area more stormtroopers arrived, doubling the usual number of guards.

The Force was strong with her, and he was taking no chances.

At least... not until he'd had the opportunity to interrogate her.

A slight probing at the blanket of darkness he'd enshrouded the princess in came to his attention. The blanket served him in two ways. One, it alerted him to any attempts from the Jedi on Tatooine in trying to contact her. And two, it kept her engulfed in a general sense of fear and despair, all the better to wear her down.

The slight probing showed that the Jedi was trying to contact her again, though it flinched into itself as soon as Vader devoted the smallest attention to it. The Force-sensitive thought they could hide themselves from him. It was almost laughable.

"Lord Vader," the commander in charge of finding the plans approached and saluted. "We've projected the planet-fall arc of the escape pod sir. We know where it is within a 50 kilometer radius and are beginning to comb the desert. The area is quite remote and will take some time to reach. If we could send out some of the probe droids-."

"And alert any hidden rebel sympathizers to our presence? The men you were provided with are sufficient."

"Of course m'lord." The man bowed his head and handed over a data padd with the rest of his report.

"Very good commander, keep me apprised on your progress. We will not be leaving this system without those plans."

He'd let himself get too distracted by the princess, it was time to investigate the Force-sensitive.

Reading the report from the commander, he tracked where the droid's escape pod was estimated to have crashed and where the closest settlements were.

Reaching out to the Force, it quickly became apparent the Jedi was still in motion. However, of the two closest towns, Anchorhead and Mos Eisley, there was a slight push in the Force towards the latter. It only took a moment, and then he was striding down the long grey hallways towards the closest hanger, where his shuttle was waiting.

Barking orders as he went, he called ahead for the pilot to chart a course to Mos Eisley and for the stormtroopers on the planet to increase their patrols. He would flush the Jedi out, retrieve the plans, and if all went well, Jabba would be none the wiser.

It appeared delaying his departure and lulling the Jedi into a false sense of security had been worth it. Not only were they inexperienced but also overconfident. And, when he found the Jedi, he would make them regret forcing him to set foot on the wretched planet again.

* * *

**Luke**

* * *

Luke broke hard as he arrived in Mos Eisley, kicking up a cloud of sand that had the beings around him shouting in anger. Hoping out, Luke swiped at his previously white farm clothes, trying to get the sand and dust out as the cloud settled. Thankfully, the ground at Mos Eisley was more densely packed then the area around Anchorhead, so the sand he kicked up wasn't as bad as he vaguely remembered it being.

"Hey, paws off." He admonished a Jawa who was already poking at his speeder, "it's not for sale."

The little being hissed at him but continued on its way. Luke watched it go, hit with a sudden wave of nostalgia so strong he was forced to brace himself slightly on the speeder to center himself in the present. He hadn't seen a Jawa in… since they'd stormed Jabba's palace to free Han. It felt like a lifetime ago. So much had happened in such a short amount of time.

Thinking of Han and Jabba, Luke couldn't quite suppress a grimace of distaste at the thought of Jabba still being alive.

_Nothing I can do about it now. Stay focused._ He reminded himself.

He closed his eyes and reached out to the Force once again, centering himself after the brief distraction. It was slightly more difficult to reach this time, a slight hint of darkness weaving through it, leaving an oily stain that had Luke grimacing.

Not sure what it meant, Luke tried to check on Leia, reaching out with hesitant tendrils. He could tell that she was still in orbit above Tatooine; thankfully the Star Destroyer hadn't left for the Death Star. He knew she'd be taken to the Death Star eventually, but had no idea when that would be.

Luke tried to slip past the darkness that now practically coated the Star Destroyer.

He flinched back, swallowing dryly when he realized the darkness appeared to be looking back at him. He could feel that Leia was up there, and that she was still alive. But Vader felt like he was watching and waiting for Luke to attempt to contact her again. Was that… even possible?

Luke pulled back completely and opened his eyes. Once again he wanted to curse his sparse knowledge of the Force. If he was just a year younger he probably would have. But he knew it was something he couldn't change at the moment and so pushed the thought aside.

Maybe… maybe he'd get the chance to ask Ben. The thought cheered him, for the ghost had only appeared before him a few times, and never long enough for an in depth discussion. There was still so much he didn't know, and so much he didn't even know to ask about.

Actually… maybe he should have gone to Ben's hut as soon as he'd realized this was all real. The man could have potentially explained what was happening to Luke, who could have then told Leia. Instead he might have scared the other man off, given Luke could no longer feel him in the Force at all.

Too late to do anything about it now.

He wished his connection to the Force wasn't so shaky right now. He should have been able to feel if Leia was in any real danger. Instead all he could get was a vague sense of unease and the sharp anticipation of change.

He shuddered as a disturbing thought hit him. What would happen to her if Vader interrogated her, and discovered their connection?

Luke had no idea how their father had reacted when he'd realized Luke was his son. Leia was still so unbalanced by the revelation, Luke doubted she'd be able to keep it from Vader.

_If you will not turn to the Dark Side… then perhaps __**she **__will._

Luke shivered in the desert heat at the memory. It was the memory, so fresh in his mind, that had sent him racing across the sand sea in search of a ship. That would never happen. He refused to let it.

But now he was torn. Should he race up to the stardestroyer and attempt a rescue? Should he first gather Ben, the droids, and his family on board a ship and flee Tatooine? But what about Alderaan? The Force was too elusive to give him answers.

All he could get was a vague sense that his father would soon make planetfall. The Force was unhelpfully vague about when 'soon' would be.

In a weird, slightly terrifying way, maybe it was a good thing he'd clumsily reached out to Leia earlier. If it kept his father in the system and focused on Luke, then that would hopefully give Leia a chance to escape.

The sight of stormtroopers across the street broke him out of his wandering thoughts. He shook his head, now was not the time to get caught staring blankly into space. Luckily, they hadn't set up the checkpoints into the city yet, as they had when he'd come here with Ben and the droids a lifetime ago. Although he's sure it was only a matter of time.

Watching the two stormtroopers head towards the entrance to town Luke had just blasted through, he had a feeling they were going to be setting up the checkpoints sooner rather than later. Oh well, he shrugged, nothing he couldn't handle.

Mind back on task, Luke headed towards a familiar rundown cantina at the edge of the spaceport. When he entered, he almost wanted to smile in nostalgia at the smoggy interior.

He remembered first walking through this door, wide-eyed at his first exposure to a place beyond Anchorhead, but trying to bluster his way through and appear tough. He couldn't quite suppress the slight twist to his lips at the thought that his behaviour had most likely not endeared him to the regulars.

Eyes roaming the booths as he approached the bar, Luke felt a slight pang of disappointment when he didn't immediately find who he was looking for.

"What'll ya 'ave." The human bartender grouched at him, peering suspiciously at his clothes.

Steeling himself, Luke leaned his elbow on the bar and dropped some credits on the counter, sliding them over to the being but not taking his hand off of them. Thankfully he'd been able to scrounge some money from his usual hiding place in the speeder. He had a vague memory of saving it for something, but the memory of what it had been was long lost.

"I'm looking for someone," he confidently stated, "a freighter pilot, Han Solo. Heard of him?"

The bartender sneered at him and glanced down at Luke's hand. "May'ave. Who's askin'?"

"I've got a job for him."

"Got a job, or he is the job?" The being looked Luke up and down and then scoffed, "Either way, you make a mess," he pointed the filthy rag in his hand at Luke, making him raise his eyebrows in bemusement, "you payin' for it, clear?"

Luke took his hand off the money, confident now that the man was going to tell him what he needed to know. Faster than one would expect of a being of his size, the bartender swiped a hand across the counter surface, the credits disappearing behind the bar.

"He ain't 'ere yet, prolly workin' on that junk of a ship, usually comes round in a few 'ours. Better off checkin' the 'port."

Luke calmly bowed his head and muttered his thanks, not showing the slight mortification he felt, even if he had learned what he wanted to know. He'd just paid quite a lot of money to find out what was probably common knowledge to many of the regulars.

Before Luke could completely turn and head out, the gruff man called out, "hey kid!" and waved him back. Not sensing any danger in the Force, Luke obliged, leaning over the counter at the man's insistence so he could quietly warn, "he may be one'a the better pilots here, but word is Jabba's not happy with'im so watch y'self."

An honest smile crossed Luke's face but before he could say anything the man pulled away and went back to cleaning mugs. "Good luck, if y're goin' to hand out free credits like that, y'll need it."

His spirits lifted, Luke exited the dank cantina and squinted at the afternoon suns. He'd need to hurry if he wanted to talk to Han and somehow convince him to help.

It was going to be difficult, balancing his need to keep everyone alive. But Luke was determined to make it happen. He was a Jedi now. He could do it.

As Luke wound his way through the dusty streets, he noticed the stormtroopers had already finished putting up their checkpoints around the town. Looked like he'd need to be more careful from now on.

* * *

Spaceballs: cut to a bunch of stormtroopers literally using combs in the desert. 'We ain't found shit.'

* * *

So Luke didn't do the smart thing, and go find Obi-wan or the droids. He was too worried about Leia, and thinks getting a ship first makes more sense (and it is much faster than a speeder). This may or may not be a good decision on his part.

Thank you so much to NessaRoseFangirl, Radical Dreamer 57 and Admiral T. Devanto for your lovely reviews! Glad to hear you're enjoying Leia's and Biggs' scenes!


	8. Threepio and Artoo

A/N: A quick check in with our two droids!

Also, glad I wasn't the only one with Spaceballs on the brain last chapter ;)

* * *

**Threepio**

* * *

Threepio trudged through the sand, bemoaning their current situation and all that had led to this moment.

"Why did I follow that glitched droid into the escape pod? The sand is getting everywhere. I'll be a stiff, clogged mess in no time at all."

The golden droid kicked a patch of sand to express their frustration, as humans had often been observed doing.

"'Secret mission' he says. Hah! Well I am through with adventures. No more getting shot at. No more space battles with horrible, unfavourable odds. A nice, safe job as a translator, that's what I need."

Threepio looked out at the endless dunes around them and continued the calculation they'd been running since they'd first crashed. The odds of other beings finding them were currently calculated at 543 to 1.

Not the worst odds they'd ever calculated.

"Who needs that useless glob of grease anyway." The droid continued to grumble, "I can do just fine on my own. What the blue menace will do without me I don't know, probably be melted down for scrap."

It wasn't until the largest of the two suns was beginning to reach the highest point of its orbit, beating down on the golden droid and initiating a new set of calculations to determine the odds of the outer casing reaching temperatures damaging to the internal wiring, that something changed.

As Threepio crested another of the endless dunes, a dark shape became visible on the horizon. For the first time since the two droids had gone their separate ways Threepio almost wished Artoo was there, so Threepio could gloat.

"What's that? A transport? I'm saved! Hey! Over here! Help! Please, help!"

The dark shape appeared to detect him somehow, turning in his direction and crossing the dunes at an alarming pace. It was only as it came closer that Threepio was able to make out the large revolving tracks that allowed the huge, vaguely rectangular vehicle to practically glide over the sand.

Threepio waited where they were as the large brown machine stopped next to them, spitting out three small odd shapes. Threepio at first wasn't sure what sort of beings they were, the brown hoods hiding all of their features except for the two glowing yellow eyes.

"Oh thank you so much for rescuing me!" Threepio gushed at them, hoping they understood basic. The three didn't address Threepio directly, instead they circled the droid while wondering aloud if Threepio had taken any damage. Threepio thought it strange that they didn't just ask.

He decided to speak to them in their native tongue, recognizing the little beings as Jawas based on their language.

"Oh, you came in time, I've suffered no damage. Although in this heat there is no telling when – ouch!" Threepio began to assure them but was cut off when a small disk was unceremoniously welded onto the droid's golden chest plate. "How rude!"

Muttering to each other in what Threepio quickly realized was now Huttese, they'd changed languages for some reason, the gold droid decided there must have been a misunderstanding somewhere.

"Oh, no I just need transport to the nearest city," he informed them in Huttese, "and then – wait, no – that's not – ahhh!" Threepio cried as they were pushed under a large tube and unceremoniously sucked up into the giant transport.

Threepio landed in a pile of rusted droid parts with an awkward crash. The protocol droid couldn't contain the disgusted cry at the sight of various limbs and circuits under them. The golden droid scrambled hastily to their feet and started stumbling around as the large transport began to move.

It wasn't until Threepio found a room with a dozen or so droids in various states of disrepair that it finally sunk in what kind of 'help' the golden droid had stumbled upon.

As Threepio scanned the group they felt a mix of relief and disappointment.

At least poor Artoo hadn't been captured.

* * *

**Artoo**

* * *

Artoo trundled along the center of a deep canyon, the large rock formations on either side casting deep shadows across the red rock of Tatooine. To an organic, the hazy mist that was forming as the twin suns hung low on the horizon might have seemed ominous and foreboding, but to Artoo it was perfect for hiding their tracks.

Threepio had long ago abandoned Artoo, that mindless philosopher understanding nothing of humans and the habitat conditions required for their survival. Perhaps the blue droid could have tried harder to convince Threepio that wandering around endless sand dunes, even if they were easier to traverse, would only take them away from settlements.

But then again, what would a 'near-sighted scrap pile' know?

Artoo was getting very close to the coordinates Princess Leia had directed the droid to, and after rolling through sand and dodging rocks all day it was lucky the astromech had suffered no malfunctions. And without Threepio here to blather on about 'the odds' Artoo could happily roll along without interruption.

Although, as the little droid wound their way through the desolate canyon, maybe a part of them missed the fussy droid.

A deep, deep part of them.

An odd noise made Artoo pause, receptors scanning the dark crevasses for movement. Now suspicious, Artoo continued on, scanners set to max, hoping there were no stormtroopers hiding in the shadows.

A metallic clank and a soft curse made Artoo dart to the side and hide behind a rock not much bigger than the droid. After exactly 56 seconds a dark shape emerged from a large opening in the cliff face. Artoo did a quick scan of the sound waves emanating from the opening and concluded it was a rather deep cave.

As the hooded figure appeared, the sounds of scrambling over rock caught Artoo's attention. It was coming from the rock wall opposite the cave. Small pebbles cascaded down and onto the trail Artoo had been following. Artoo jerkily spun their photo-receptor behind them just in time to see small shapes, no bigger than Artoo themselves, run and hide from the larger hooded form.

Had they been following Artoo?

A soft noise came from the hooded figure, too soft for Artoo to decipher. A close approximation of dread filled their circuits. Artoo was so close to the co-ordinates the princess had passed to them, so close!

Artoo let out a high-pitched shriek when the boulder they'd been hiding behind suddenly rose from the ground and started floating in the air. It wasn't the only one, and drifted over to join many others. The droid rocked back and forth, unsure what to do as all the rocks were gently placed in a pile to the side.

The strange, floating rocks sparked something in Artoo's processor. An old memory, timestamped at approximately eighteen years ago, was flagged as related to what was currently happening. It was in deep storage and heavily encrypted.

The ambiguity of the timestamp was concerning. It would take a moment to decrypt them.

The large hooded figure turned to Artoo once the rocks were settled and brought both hands up, removing his hood. At least, the fur on its face made Artoo assume it was a 'he'.

"Hello there!" The organic called, in what Artoo was fairly sure was surprise. "There's no need to be afraid my little friend. This is no place for a droid to be wandering on their own, where is your master?"

Deep voice, fur on the face, unless further analysis proved otherwise Artoo determined it was a 'he' after all.

Slowly rolling towards the organic, Artoo began firing off a list of questions, trying to determine who this was and if he could help the droid. There was also something very familiar about the organic.

"I'm sorry little one, I don't have time to help you. However, if you hide in this cave, I should be able to when I come back. The Jawas won't bother you there."

Artoo's scans received a ping back from deep in the cave, revealing an ancient speeder model. The astromech let out an uncertain warble. Artoo needed to find General Kenobi as fast as possible, the princess had given Artoo a very important mission after all. Artoo couldn't let her down.

While Artoo hesitated at the mouth of the cave, the old human male turned and headed towards the speeder, now that a path had been cleared.

An internal chime alerted Artoo that some of the heavily encrypted data from the deep storage was finally accessible. Artoo instantly realized where they had seen not only flying rocks, but also a human very similar to this one.

The audio and visual data didn't line up perfectly but Artoo had been around humans long enough to recognize that organics could change drastically over time. They also didn't need Threepio to calculate the odds of meeting a human so similar to General Kenobi so close to the coordinates the princess had given Artoo.

With a sharp cry of [General Kenobi!] , Artoo set their speed to max and cut the human off, preventing him from going further. [I found you! I found you!]

"I truly am sorry but-"

Artoo let out a string of frustrated blats and recriminations at General Kenobi, but still he didn't seem to understand or recognize Artoo. Artoo rocked in place to express frustration.

Maybe… in some situations... Threepio was good for something after all.

Not wasting any more time, the princess was counting on Artoo! The droid played her strange recording for its intended recipient.

* * *

A/N: Thank you to RadicalDreamer57, Bex, Mahria, and for the lovely reviews! Luke's decision surprised me too, a bit but I hope it still made sense or will make more sense as the story goes on.

Next up, what Han thinks of the weird/creepy kid trying to hire him.


	9. Beru and Han

**A/N: **Accidentally forgot to add Beru's POV to the last chapter... no wonder I thought it was oddly short! Ugh.

Meant to post this on the weekend but turns out finding some quiet time while camping with the fam is hard. I thought for sure waking up at 7:30 would give me enough time but nope! Young kids wake up much earlier than I realized.

* * *

**Beru  
**

* * *

"Can you believe he just left the Y-8 droid out there?" Owen paced outside the greenhouse doors, gesturing angrily. "Broken down, right next to the vaporator!"

Beru smiled slightly as she pruned a few leaves from the plant in front of her, turning her body slightly so Owen couldn't see her face. Their greenhouse wasn't productive enough to be profitable, it was a common lament of many of the small farmers around Anchorhead, but Beru enjoyed tending to plants. It was a luxury she was very grateful to have, for not all farms had the spare water to sustain them.

"That busted up speeder of his isn't on the property. That useless daydreamer is out wasting time with his friends, after I specifically told him to finish his chores first!"

Owen had come home in a foul mood after tending to the south-west quadrant. Once finished tending to the vaporators in the morning, Owen always completed a circuit of the farm, on the lookout for any damage or signs of Jawas or Sand People in the area. Unfortunately for Luke, he'd discovered the abandoned droid.

"Not only did he abandon the droid, he left it gathering sand for most of the day!"

Beru had been listening to this rant for quite a while now. Whenever Luke showed the slightest signs of being irresponsible, Owen always came down on him hard. She tried to counter his tough approach to parenting by being supportive of Luke, but sometimes it felt like she'd become the person they both came to, to complain about the other.

"Did he at least finish tending the vaporators?" Beru asked, knowing the answer. The holo-sheet had been updated showing all the vaporator's in Luke's quadrant having received maintenance. She kept an eye on it every morning to ensure they were both safe. If too much time passed between updates, she always called to see if they were alright. An important system to have in place when the Sand People were getting more and more aggressive.

"You know he did." Owen gripped, stopping his pacing to lean against the doorway with his arms crossed.

"And you know he gets absent-minded when he's excited about something, he probably didn't even notice he left it." She commented, the years spent raising a space-dreamer like Luke giving her a deep insight into his psyche. Insight that Owen should have as well, except he never seemed to understand why Luke would yearn for a life outside the farm.

Owen was silent a moment, his usual response to this well-worn conversation not immediately forthcoming.

"He didn't seem excited about anything this morning." He said, quiet enough that she almost had trouble hearing him.

Beru put down the plant-sheers on the nearby table and turned to give Owen her full attention for the first time. "Did he look well to you?" She asked, now that the conversation had switched to Luke's strange behaviour.

"He looked normal." Owen grimaced, his weathered face crinkling in such a way to show this was a common expression for him. "Took as long as usual to get him out of bed."

"Yes, but then he barely said anything at breakfast."

"Yeah." Owen agreed. "He was so calm listening to me list his chores this morning. I thought he was just pretending to pay attention except..."

"Except he's usually terrible at hiding it." Beru finished. She found it so cute when Luke tried to hide things from them. Owen would bluster and complain but in the end would often allow Luke to have his way. For though he may not understand Luke's restlessness, he at least understood that Luke needed an outlet.

"Mhm." Owen agreed, thinking. "The only time he gets this quiet is..." Owen trailed off in dread.

"I thought you both agreed on waiting till the end of next harvest?" Beru asked, knowing where Owen's mind had gone.

Beru picked up the small container full of greens she'd picked from the garden. She knew where the conversation was going to go now, and wanted to keep her hands busy while they talked. It made these conversations about Luke easier.

"I thought so too. But that fool boy is always getting crazy ideas in his head." Owen said, following her into the kitchen.

"It seemed like he had more on his mind than just the Academy this morning." Beru observed, still a little worried about Luke's detached behaviour.

Owen sighed gustily, "No, I bet that's it." He ran a hand down his face in exasperation, "Great, now I have a long, convoluted explanation on why he should leave this season to look forward to."

Beru held back her opinion on the matter. Owen had made up his mind, and it was often impossible to change it where Luke was concerned. Owen was so determined to turn Luke into a respectable moisture farmer like him. He kept coming up with reasons for why Luke couldn't leave **this** year. Or why he needed Luke to stay just **one** more year.

Beru feared that eventually Luke would realize they could look after the farm just fine on their own, and then they'd never see him again.

Owen sighed again, frustration clear. "That boy needs to learn some sense of responsibility-"

"Shouldn't you see if the Y-8 is repairable?" Beru prompted, unwilling to stand there and listen to Owen complain any longer. She pointedly began to pull her prep equipment from where it hung on the wall down and onto the counter.

"Right, right. Sorry." Owen relented, "You know I just worry about that boy."

Beru smiled at her husband, teasing him, "And I know you also like to complain about him."

"Feels like it's all I do some days." Owen came up and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek in silent apology. "I'll call one of the Jawa clans, in case I can't get the Y-8 working. Do we have enough saved up?"

"Depends." She smiled cheekily at him, "If you can maintain that grumpy face while negotiating, we may even have enough for two."

"That's good." Owen's eyes widened slightly in surprise.

"Luke's been working very hard to put us in the black these past two years." She tried to remind him that, for all his moments of rebellion and thrill-seeking, Luke was as dutiful a son as they could ask for.

"Doesn't mean I should go easy on him." He turned and exited the kitchen, heading across the open common area for the maintenance room.

"And make sure you contact the Scurrier Clan first." She called to his retreating back, receiving a wave to show he'd heard.

They were the Jawas least likely to give them a bad deal. Or more accurately, the ones most likely to give in to Owen's scowl. They'd still try and sell them broken droids, she was sure, but Luke was good at making malfunctioning droids last longer than expected.

**Ch9 - Han 1 - ready 2200**

Han Solo lounged on top of his ship, handing his co-pilot tools at each barked command. The flat surface was perfect for relaxing on, as long as he ignored the grumbling coming from the open panel next to him and the occasional 'lazy' comment.

Han was currently engaging in his favourite pastime of pretending everything was fine. So he'd had to drop the recent Spice shipment of Jabba's before the Imperials had a chance to board him. It happened to everyone once in a while! It wasn't his fault the cruiser had been alerted to them.

A growled order floated up and Han lazily reached over to hand Chewie the hyper-drill. Not completely paying attention, thoughts straying to the hot Togruta who'd been flirting with him on the last job before it went sideways, the drill slipped out of his hand before Chewie could grab it. A loud clang, followed by a frustrated roar had Han immediately sitting up.

"Shit! Sorry Chewie!" A low growl was his only response and Han winced. "You ok pal?"

No answer was forthcoming so Han shrugged, about to lie down and continue to not think about how upset Jabba probably was with him at the moment, when movement at the entrance to their docking bay caught his eye.

It didn't take long to spot the source, a young kid dressed in farmer's white was loitering just outside the entrance, peeking in at the ship. The kid had the bright, almost white blond hair of someone who spent a lot of time out in the sun. For a human, his skin was pretty light coloured, so most likely from one of the more well off farms if he was able to prevent the deep tan you'd expect on a human like him.

Han made sure not to make any sudden movements and alert the kid that he'd been seen, watching his face carefully. The boy peered around the docking bay, most likely looking for them, but his eyes kept stalling on Han's ship.

Slowly, with an odd, creepy grace, the kid passed through the entryway and walked towards the Falcon. Han gently unclipped his blaster at the approach, silently freeing it from the holster. Chewie was still working silently away, through sheer luck not giving their position away.

Once the kid was far enough into the bay that Han was fairly certain he was alone, or at least exposed enough that he'd have no trouble taking care of the kid if he was here to cause trouble, Han decided to confront him.

"Hey! Kid!" He called out.

The blond startled slightly, then craned his neck up to peer at Han. Keeping the blaster ready and out of the kid's line of sight, Han stood and raised an eyebrow, "You lost, kid?"

The boy made an odd motion with his arms, as if he was about to put his hands up the sleeves of his white tunic. Han tensed, but then the boy aborted the movement, "Ah, no, I don't think so. I'm looking for Han Solo."

Han heard Chewie poke his head out of the panel and questioningly reach for his bowcaster, left sitting near the opening. Han subtly motioned for Chewie to wait, not taking his eyes off the kid, while also keeping on the lookout for any other sudden movement.

"Well you've found 'im. Whadya want?" For a moment, Han almost thought the kid looked hurt by his sharp tone, but brushed it off.

"Could we… talk? I'm looking to hire a ship."

"Oh really." Han looked down at him skeptically. "You sure you can afford it?" Again, an odd look passed across the farmer's face before sliding back into his default weird calm.

"I'm sure we can negotiate something."

Han gave the, apparently, potential client one last long look before glancing around the bay.

"Alright, I'm coming down." He called, holstering his blaster and moving to the access ladder. As he passed Chewie he muttered, "He seems harmless Chewie, but stay here and keep an eye out. It's always hard to tell with these ones."

Han lightly scrambled down the ladder with the ease of long practice, landing with a thump near the open boarding ramp. His eyes swept the area again before focusing on his visitor. Once again he was struck by how young the boy was, he looked like he was still somewhere in his teens.

It wasn't unusual for Jabba to employ people this young, but usually not when he was upset with you.

"Not many kids your age can afford my prices, so what is it? Running away from home? In trouble with the locals? I'm warning you, if Jabba has a problem with you, then we," he motioned between them, "will also have a problem."

"No, nothing like that." The boy's white clad arms came up to grip his elbows, not quite crossing his arms defensively, but close to it. It made Han relax fractionally, that was not a good posture to take if you wanted to reach your hidden weapon easily. "I'm looking for transport off planet, and I hear you have a fast ship?"

"You bet your ass this is a fast ship." Han defensively snapped at the questioning tone. "If you were lookin' for me, then you've obviously heard of the Millennium Falcon."

"Right," the boy took a deep breath and continued, "but it's not just for me, I'd like you to pick up my family as well."

"And they sent you to negotiate?" Han didn't bother to keep the deep skepticism from his voice. There was something about the kid that was starting to ring alarm bells in his mind. It was eerie, seeing the calm self-assuredness in someone that young. He may be driving off a client with his less than welcoming behaviour, but there was something… off about the kid.

The blond winced slightly, as if pained, but quickly regained his calm, "They weren't able to leave the farm, so yes."

"Won't? Or can't leave the farm? I ain't stealin' people." Han asked, skeptical that an adult couldn't come do the negotiations. This kid had to be around sixteen or something. Most freeborn kids knew better than to wander places like Mos Eisley with no protection.

"It's harvest season. They're busy." He replied shortly.

Han sighed. "All right. Sure," willing to play along for now. "So how many and to where?"

"Well, just four of us. And two droids. As for where…" the kid trailed off and frowned glancing up at the sky. Han didn't take his eyes off the kid, trusting Chewie to handle it if the kid was looking at something or signalling someone.

Golden hair shook as the teen brought himself back on task, "We need to go to Alderaan."

"Alderaan huh?" Han raised an eyebrow at the unexpected location. "And we expectin' any trouble on this trip?"

"Well…" the kid hesitated.

"If you don't tell me now, I'll either double the price or drop you at the nearest spaceport, so you'd better spill it." Han threatened.

The kid was almost wearing a constant, slightly pained look now. If Han didn't know better, he'd think the teen was hurt by his perfectly reasonable suspicion.

"We'd like to… avoid the Imperials."

"Hah!" Han let out a laugh, relieved to finally be getting somewhere. It started to explain some of the weird behaviour. The Imperials had suddenly stepped up their security in town and now he's got a client wanting to avoid them. Han sensed opportunity. "Well that's the trick, isn't it? That'll cost you extra. Ten thousand in advance," he threw out, just to see the kid's reaction.

It got him a slight grimace, but not an immediate denial or objection, as he'd half expected. So they had some money available up front, but not that much.

"I don't have that much on me now but… I can get you two to three thousand now," The boy looked down at the ground, thinking for a moment before continuing, "and when you come to the homestead there's another two thousand, and -."

"Wait, wait," Han interrupted the teen's counter offer, "You say'n we need to make a pick up as well? Why can't they come here? That's gonna make avoiding the imperials more difficult y'know."

The blond glanced up at the sky again, a deep frown now fixed on his face, and maybe even a bit of worry. It was so hard to get a proper read on the kid it was impossible to say.

"And fifteen thousand when we get to Alderaan," the farmer continued his offer in a rush.

"Hmm." Han assessed him, even with the added complications, that was a lot of credits. Credits they sorely needed. Han let the silence drag out, curious if the kid would offer more. So far, he was asking Han to take an awfully big risk with nothing to back up his big offer. When the blond teen just calmly waited for his reaction with none of the nerves Han would expect, he decided to fish for more information.

"And how does a moisture farmer have fifteen thousand waiting for him on Alderaan?"

"It's..." The boy looked taken aback that Han didn't just take his word on the fifteen thousand. Which was ridiculous. That was a huge sum for a moisture farmer, and Han wasn't about to get tricked into doing charity work.

"My family has helped... a political exile hide here... and now he needs to return to Alderaan."

The boy chose his words carefully, probably coached on what he could and could not say, if his story was true. Han was still skeptical. Not that he really cared, as long as the upfront five thousand was legit, it was easy money. And if it turned out he was lied to, he was confident he and Chewie could handle a bunch of farmers, no matter how tough Tatooine had made them.

It sounded like they were running from **something**, the question was whether or not Han could turn a hefty profit regardless.

"And this exile is the real deal? He's not just blowing sand up your pipe to freeload?"

"What? Of course not!"

Finally! A normal reaction! It set Han's mind a bit more at ease. He would never admit how creeped out he was at the boy's eerie calm. He was way too self-controlled for a young moisture farmer from Tatooine.

"I guess I could take a look at the guy, see if he's legit." The so-called exile might be able to fool a family of country bumpkins with fake core manners and a fake accent, but he and Chewie would be able to tell. Probably.

The kid actually looked relieved, so Han finally fully relented. "Alright, we'll do it. You got the first payment on you?"

"No, I don't have it on me," and now Han immediately started to doubt the wisdom of taking the job. The kid must realize this because he finishes in a rush, "but I'll be back within the hour with it."

Han sighed. "Alright kid, if you come back with three thousand, you've got yourself a deal. But take your time, we're doing a few repairs at the moment." Above them, Chewie let out an agreeing roar.

The kid didn't startle at the sudden appearance of a Wookie, that creepy calm still mostly in place, but a strained note did enter his voice. "How soon can you be ready to leave?"

"How we doin' Chewie!" He called behind him. A few barked comments had him translating, "Chewie says not for a while. Might not be ready till tomorrow. Why? In a hurry?"

"It's just…" The boy paused, and appeared to be searching for words, "The Imperials are increasing their patrols, they'll probably be closing the spaceport soon."

Han shrugged arrogantly, "It's no big deal if they do, we've done this sort of thing plenty of times, right Chewie?"

"Alright… thank you…. I'll be back soon." The kid looked a bit sceptical, but it was hard to tell.

"Hey kid! You know me and this is Chewbacca, and you are…?"

"Oh, right. I'm Luke… Lars. Luke Lars."

Han nodded and waved him off, uninterested in any more details. Something told him he didn't want to ask too many more questions. The whole job was pretty sketchy, but then again most of their jobs were.

As soon as the kid was out of hearing range, Han waited for a few more moments, just in case, before spinning to Chewbacca jubilantly. "Twenty thousand! They must really be desperate. This could really save our necks Chewie. Five thousand up front ain't too bad either, almost didn't think the kid would go for it."

Chewie made an agreeing noise, then barked a dubious question at him. "What!? No of course I'm coming up to help, we need to get her ready to move as fast as possible."

Chewie barked another comment and Han sighed in exasperation. "I know what I said, don't worry, I'm not planning on busting through the Imperials if they block the port, not if I can help it, you know how much of a pain it is."

As Han ran up the ramp to start cleaning up the various broken parts strewn around, he couldn't help a slight grin at the thought of twenty thousand. See! He wanted to shout at Chewie, there was no use worrying, things were going to work out just fine. He'd be able to pay Jabba off in no time at this rate.

He had a good feeling about this.

* * *

A/N: Han's POV was a lot of fun to write. There will definitely be more of his observations in the future!

**Next up**: Luke, Leia and Vader.

* * *

PS: While reading the old script, I stumbled across this line after Han makes his famous boast. It's Ben's reaction to Han….. Bahahahaha! XD

_HAN: "It's the ship that made the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs!"_

_Ben reacts to Solo's stupid attempt to impress them with obvious misinformation._


	10. Leia & Vader & Luke

**A/N:** Hope everyone impacted by the fires on the west coast of America is staying safe! It's very smokey where I am, can't even see the sun. But thankfully the fires in Canada have not been too bad this year. We are due another bad one though, it is inevitable without proactive fire management.

* * *

**Leia**

* * *

Leia paced her cell. It was the only outlet she had for all her pent-up energy. It also served a dual-purpose of staving off the shivers that kept assaulting her at random moments. The chill she'd begun to feel when marched away from Vader still hadn't left her.

It was odd, her time in this cell had been etched into her brain forever. But she didn't remember the cell being so cold.

She took a deep breath, and tried once again to perform one of the meditative techniques she'd seen Luke attempt in his early years with the Alliance. Unfortunately, it was working as well for her now as it used to for him. Not at all.

It wasn't just nerves that had started her pacing. No, it was the complete insanity of this whole situation. How had she possibly ended up here? It continued not to make any sense. And it didn't help that Luke hadn't reached out to her since that last disastrous attempt.

Even though he'd stated that he'd be tracking down the droids himself, an irrational part of her had assumed Vader would still interrogate her to get information about Luke. She reached up to rub at her still bruised neck at the thought. But he hadn't, much to her relief. Instead she'd been stewing here for hours, with no idea what was happening beyond her cell.

Was the ship on its way to the Death Star, or was it still in orbit around Tatooine? Had Vader already tracked down Luke? She had no way of warning him Vader was coming for him, not without Luke initiating contact first, and it was eating away at her composure the longer she went without hearing from him.

The last time she'd been in this position, she'd spent the time readying the mental techniques she'd been taught to resist torture. She'd also done her best to resign herself to her fate, while believing with unfounded certainty that Artoo would succeed in his mission to get the Death Star plans to General Kenobi.

Well... now she knew where that certainty had come from. Why though? Why her? Why did it have to be-? No. She had to stop thinking about that.

But this time she didn't have the focus for the mental walls, not that they'd been able to completely stop Vader anyway. All she could think was that, at any moment, the man who Luke claimed- the monster who Luke- No! She couldn't bring herself to finish the thought. She refused to entertain the idea. Luke, she could accept as her brother. She'd already thought of him that way before he'd told her the truth on Endor. But what she couldn't accept was what came with it.

It didn't help that the strange power both he and Vader wielded was definitely at fault for their current situation.

This was obviously too real to be a nightmare, and perhaps if she knew more of the Force she would have assumed it was one of those vivid visions Luke had told her about from the beginning. But never that all of this was real. What could possibly be the point of it all?

A noise outside the cell had her freeze in her pacing. She turned wide eyes onto the door, her heart beating double time in her chest. No. It was too early. She wasn't ready! What if he found out!? What would he do if he saw the memory of Luke telling her-

The cell door opened with a hiss of displaced air. Revealing an officer all in black and a stormtrooper. They stepped into her cell, while she was forced to back up to make room, eyes not focused on them, but past them. An IT-0 droid followed them in, the floating black ball moving to hover in the corner.

"Senator Organa of Alderaan," the officer began, but Leia still didn't look at him, waiting for the nightmarish form of Vader to enter the cell.

* * *

**Vader**

* * *

Darth Vader clenched his fists, striding furiously down the corridor. Mouse droids fled from him, zigzagging across the floor, to hide in their docking stations. Stormtroopers jumped to the side, saluting and shaking as he went by. Behind him, the lieutenant who'd interrupted his shuttle's launch was forced to almost run to keep up. The man was supposedly under orders to direct Vader to the nearest active terminal, but Vader had ignored that directive.

Instead, he was marching to the nearest private conference room, not trusting himself to keep a civil tongue with the one who was calling.

Damn Tarkin for getting in the way. The urge to ignore the order and just head down to the planet had been strong. Strong enough that he'd almost followed through on the impulse. Were it anyone else calling, besides the Emperor, he would have.

However, his Master had been clear. Tarkin's demands had to take precedence.

So that was how he found himself answering the call, when hunting a Jedi would be far more preferable. Delaying his arrival on the most abhorrent planet in the Galaxy had nothing to do with it.

He entered the conference room, barely paying attention to the fact that he shut the door in the messenger's face. He turned on the lights with a flick of a black wrist, and approached the holo-terminal. With a few quick commands, he rerouted the call to his location.

"Lord Vader, finally," Tarkin's blue holo-form greeted him impatiently.

"Governor Tarkin," he kept his own impatience from his voice. Barely.

"Your earlier report stated you had captured Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan on the rebel ship." A slight smile curved the edge of his thin mouth, the animosity between the young Senator and the Governor was well-known. "I assume you've obtained the location of the rebel base by now."

Vader forced himself to relax his posture, placing his hands casually on his belt. So that's what this call was about. The man was eager to use the battle station. And this close to achieving his dream, Vader could understand. But it was even more important now not to lose focus on their goal.

"The plans that were beamed aboard the ship have not been located yet," he responded, answering the unvoiced question of why he hadn't returned to the Death Star with her.

Tarkin scoffed, "we hardly need them if one of the rebel leaders is in our custody. Do you, or do you not have a location for me, Lord Vader?"

He'd considered interrogating her immediately, but his methods worked best when they weren't rushed. Letting them agonize over their fate in solitary confinement, while he used the Force to amplify their feelings, always made the interrogations go much smoother. Not to mention her newly exhibited force-sensitivity could make interrogation difficult. But of course Tarkin was too eager to try out his new toy for that.

"I do not," he bit out. "She was attempting to deliver the plans to someone on this planet."

Tarkin did not like his answer, as Vader knew he wouldn't, waving away his concerns. "The local garrison can handle such trivial matters."

"And if they manage to escape with the plans?" he asked, hesitant to state the main reason for staying in the system. Most of the Generals in the Imperial Navy did not respond well to mentions of the Force. Tarkin was not one of them, but it was pure habit that made him hesitate to mention the force-user.

"Once this battle station is fully operational, the rebellion won't dare challenge us," the thin man confidently, almost arrogantly, stated. "Especially once you provide me with a location to demonstrate its full power."

In another life, he might have been forced to give in to Tarkin. With no satisfactory explanation for why he did not want to leave with the job half done, besides a faint feeling of unease, he would have been forced to leave the rest of the search to the local garrison.

It could only be the will of the Force for the Jedi to have reached out to the princess while Vader was right there with her. The fool had been careless.

"Do not be so sure," he ominously stated. "The one she was attempting to deliver them to is a Jedi."

"A Jedi? Surely not." Tarkin's blue holo blinked, the only physical tell of his surprise, his ever present frown deepening. "You, my friend, are the only one left of that dead religion."

"I have felt it," Vader confidently stated.

Though calling the force-sensitive a Jedi was generous, they clearly had received some training. They might not be a Jedi Master, but they could still pose a threat to their plans.

Tarkin was silent for a moment, before slowly saying, "do you believe it is possible, however unlikely, for them to find and exploit a weakness?" Unlike many of the other officers serving these days, Tarkin had seen the Jedi at the height of their power in the Clone Wars. He knew to be wary.

"It is possible. Not all the Jedi master's bodies were found. It is likely that one managed to train an apprentice."

"Should we really be worried then?" skepticism entered his voice. "Your dedication to their eradication is admirable, Lord Vader, but surely they are too weak to mount an effective return."

Vader kept his hands relaxed on his belt through habit and force of will. Tarkin had obviously been spending too much time listening to the blustering Generals, to believe such a thing.

"Do not believe the boasts of your generals, Tarkin. That battle station is nothing next to the power of the Force."

Tarkin let out a frustrated breath, looking away while he thought it over. As he did so, his frown gained a level of severity that spoke of his reluctance to give Vader what he wanted.

"If you insist on hunting down this threat yourself, at least get a location from the Princess first. The station will be fully operational in a matter of days. Get me a target."

Vader clenched his jaw, chafing at having to take his orders, no matter how long the two of them had worked together. "As you wish."

He ended the call.

Not wasting any time, he patched a call into the detention block.

"Lord Vader!" the captain instantly answered, alert and ready for orders.

"Begin the interrogation of the prisoner. I want the location of the Rebel base." Tarkin hadn't specified that Vader himself would be the one interrogating her, only implied it. He had more important matters to deal with.

Once he dealt with the larger threat on the planet, then he'd deal with her. True, he could interrogate her himself on what she knew of the Jedi. But he'd wasted enough time already. Perhaps if the Jedi was better at hiding he'd have been forced to interrogate her first. But the apprentice clearly wasn't able to manage it. Whoever their master had been, they'd completely failed to teach them to properly shield. Vader could only assume they'd survived this long by staying to the outer reaches of the Empire.

"I take it her diplomatic immunity has been revoked sir? To what degree should we proceed?" the man asked.

"I want her fit enough for further questioning. That is all." Any physical damage done to her could be fixed later. His men would most likely be unable to break her. Instead, when he finally had time for her, her hatred and anger would be even more potent.

The captain raised his eyebrows, clearly surprised at the leeway he was being given, but didn't question any further. He was efficient like that.

"We shall commence at once, m'lord."

Vader cut the call, satisfied that he'd have a location soon. She may have shown some degree of strength when he questioned her on the ship, but the drugs should break down some of that resistance.

At least enough for him to have somewhere to start with when he returned. Showing her the dead body of the Jedi she'd pinned her hopes on would also be satisfying.

Satisfied that the brief diversion had been taken care of, he exited the conference room, heading back to his shuttle. The Jedi hadn't moved in many hours, lulled into a false sense of security. It was finally time to strike.

* * *

**Luke**

* * *

Luke left docking bay ninety-four with a heavy heart. That had to have been one of the most painful conversations he'd had in his life.

For Han to look at him with such distrust and greed, it… well it made his stomach roll uncomfortably. Like he'd just eaten womp rat without first boiling the meat for four hours. Without Ben there as a relatively respectable looking authority figure Han had been extra suspicious of him, in a way he never could have foreseen.

Or at least, he hadn't allowed himself to think about it.

And the ship wasn't even space worthy yet! That had sure been a shock. Had Han and Chewie really just finished their repairs when Luke and Ben had originally come to Mos Eisley? Their meeting back then had to have been the will of the Force.

But that meant the ship wasn't ready yet, when Luke had been counting on it.

Maybe this had been a mistake, maybe he should have sought Obi-wan out instead to see if he could explain this crazy situation. It must have something to do with the Force. But how? His memory of what happened before he awoke in his childhood bed was too hazy to determine a cause. What he really needed was time to meditate and try to sort it out.

Unfortunately, it seemed he still hadn't quite shaken the impulsive farmboy he used to be. Maybe a real Jedi Knight would have taken the time to think things through and determine the best course of action, but not him. Just like with Bespin, he'd run off trying to get to a ship so he could rescue Leia from Darth Vader. From their Father.

Sure, he'd originally told himself the ship was to get Ben, the droids, and his family off planet and safe as fast as possible. Or that he could just steal a ship from Mos Eisley if Leia was in real trouble.

At least he could still feel that Leia was ok. Angry and afraid, but not to the same extent she had been when Luke had first contacted her. Unfortunately, the Dark Side clouded everything else, as it never had before. He probably could reach her and reassure her if he stopped hiding in the Force but... then he might as well wave a bright sign over his head. His Father would pinpoint his location instantly.

Perhaps her distress had affected his actions more than he'd thought.

Luke reached his speeder, glad that no ambitious Jawa had attempted to make off with it. He reached in, dusting a bit of sand off the console. Luke flicked a few switches and then began to guide it towards the other end of town, where the used speeder lot was.

Hopefully he'd actually be able to deliver on the amount he promised Han. He couldn't remember how much he'd been able to sell his faithful speeder for the last time, beyond he'd been disheartened by the amount. Still, his negotiating skills had improved in leaps and bounds from when he'd actually been eighteen.

Luke scrunched his nose up as he passed a Bantha pen. Boy did he ever not miss that smell.

In the oppressive heat of the early afternoon, just as he reached the speeder lot, a sudden chill raced down his spine. He ducked under one of the eaves, just in time to dodge a whole squadron of stormtroopers who were pushing their way through the crowd. He frowned at them, not remembering there being such a large number of them before.

His eyes tracked ahead to where they could be going, his frown deepening when he realized the sprawling space port was in that direction. He closed his eyes and tried to reign in his Force presence some more, acutely aware of the cold shadow above him.

Luke held off on reaching out and checking on Leia once again, as he'd been unable to stop himself from doing while talking to Han. It would do him no good to try and reach her. He did not want any more of his father's attention.

He turned the corner of the building and reached the vehicle entrance of the lot. Looking at it with his more galaxy travelled eyes, he almost grimaced at the obviously sleazy air about the place. What had he been thinking back then, to choose this place to sell his speeder?

As he entered the lot, bringing his speeder to a halt near the lone sandstone building, the tall, spindly, insect-like dealer emerged from the shade.

Knowing that he probably got scammed last time, Luke resolved to negotiate hard with this being and get a better deal.

"What?" the dealer snapped, already in a bad mood.

Luke braced himself for a difficult negotiation.

* * *

A/N: Thank you to everyone who left reviews! For some reason I couldn't reply cause they weren't showing up on my account, but I think it's been fixed? So I'll try to respond but wanted to give a huge thank you just in case.

**Next chapter**: What Leia does when she realizes it isn't Vader interrogating her :)


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